Sheetsxsheet i



N. A. GUSSACK GUIDE FOR DRAWERS OR SHELVES l 6 3 2 a R 7 Feb. 12, 1952 2SHEETS-Sl-1EET 1 Original Filed May 5, 1947 s Nu b 1 &

- INVENTOR. .9 JVaihan ll 6mm ATTORNEYS N. A. GUS SAC K GUIDE FbRDRAWERS'OR SHELVES Feb. 12, 1952 Original Filed May 5, 1947 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 'JValhan ATTORNEYS Reissued Feb. 12, 1952 GUIDE FOR DRAWERS ORSHELVES Nathan A. Gussack, New York, N. Y., assignor to Grant Pulley &Hardware 00., Flushing, ,N. Y.,

Original No. 2,534,350, dated December 19,1950,

Serial No. 746,000, May 5, 1947.

Application for reissue May 15, 1951, Serial No. 226,501

4 Claims.

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the original patent butforms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to a new and improved slide support means forslidable drawers, shelves or the like in cabinets, desks and otherarticles.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved slide support onwhich drawers or shelves may be mounted within a supporting frame orcabinet and which will allow opening and closing of said drawers orshelves with a minimum of friction and with a minimum expenditure ofefiort by the user.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a slide support ofthe character indicated which will be durable and eflicient inoperation, which may be constructed from a minimum number of parts andwhich can be fabricated and assembled easily and economically.

' The invention is of particular utility in providing a slidable supportin a cabinet, for the turntable of a player for phonograph records. Whensuch support is slid out of the cabinet to expose the turntable, thesupport must be mounted on the cabinet without any relative movement orplay, or else the phonograph record will deliver a disagreeable rattlingsound when it is played. In some cases, the record is played while theslidable support for the turntable is in its closed position, so thatrattling must be prevented in the open and closed position of the draweror slidable support.

The foregoing objects as well as additional objects and advantages ofthe invention will be readily understood in the course of the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings whichillustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view illustrating a drawer mountedwithin a frame or cabinet on a pair of slide supports embodying thefeatures of the invention. Only a portion of the vertical side walls ofthe drawer and a portion of the supporting frame are shown to illustrateone method of mounting the drawer on the slide support;

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of thepair of slide supports ofFig. 1 illustrating the relationship and cooperation between the channelmember, the slidable carriage mounted thereon and the slidable trackmounted within the carriage;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the slide supports taken on line 33of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. As in Fig. 1,this view also shows a portion of the drawer and of the supporting 2frame in which the drawer is slidably mounted; and

Fig. 5 is a view of a slightly modified form of slide support andillustrates-a different manner of mounting a drawer thereon. I 7

Referring first to Fig. 1, the drawer isillustrated as having verticalside walls I0 which depend below its bottom wall (not shown) and thedrawer is slidably mounted within a frame including longitudinal framesupports II.

An elongated channel member l2 having a side wall I 3 integral with topand bottom walls I4 may be fastened to each of the side walls Ill of thedrawer preferably, by means of screws located in countersunk holes (notshown) in said side walls. Top and bottom walls I4 are provided withlongitudinal grooves or recesses I5, which serve as ball-races. Aball-retainer I6 of U- shaped cross-section is slidably mounted withinchannel member I2, in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter,with its side wall I! adjacent side wall I3 of channel member I2, andwith its horizontal ball-retaining walls I8 respectively adjacent topand bottom walls l4 and ball-races I5 of said chaimel member I3.

A fiat, elongated track 20 is slidably mounted within the ball-retainerIt in a manner to be fully described. Track 20 is provided on its upperand lower surfaces, adjacent one of its longitudinal edges, withlongitudinal grooves or recesses 2| which serves as ball-tracks. Theballretaining walls I8 are provided with a respective longitudinalseries of pockets 23. Balls 22 are 1ocated turnably in said pockets 23,so that each ball 22 can turn in all directions in its pocket 23.

Each track 20 is provided with a mount portion 20a, which is fixedadjustably to the respective frame-member II, in order to permit fulllateral adjustment. For this purpose, and as shown in Fig. 2, the mountportions 20a are provided with transversely elongated holes 24, ofelliptical or other elongated shape. These holes 24 are arranged intransversely aligned pairs. The fastening and clamping screws 25 haveshanks which pass through the holes 24 and enter the frame-members II.As measured transversely, the shank of each screw 25 is of less widththan the holes 24, so that the tracks 20 can be laterally adjusted ateach side relative to the frame-members I2, before tightening theclamping screws 2 5 to final position.

When thus adjusted, the ball-tracks 2| are accurately laterallypositioned relative to the balls 22, so that the drawer I0 can be movedlongitudinally back and forth, without any binding of the balls in theball-races I5 or in the balltracks 2|, because each ball-track 2I isaccurately vertically aligned with the respective ball-race I 5.

Each channel member I2 may beprovided with longitudinally spaced stops26 for limiting the forward and rearward movement of its ball-retainerI6 and its track 20. Saidstnps 26 may be formed integrally with andstruck inwardly'from" the side wall I3 of said channel member I2adjacent each end thereof, or may be formed in any other suitablemanner. For example, either one or both stops 26 need not beintegralwith channel member I2, but mighttake the form of a headed screw or studor other separable element securable to said channel member I2 afterassembly therewith of ball-retainer I6 and slidable tracks 26, when thedrawer is pulled forwardly relative to the frame, in order to open thedrawer. If it isdesired to completely' remove the drawer In from frameII, the integral stops-26 must be replaced by removable stops. It issufficient to provide a rear removable stop, and to provide a frame fromwhich the drawer can he slid rearwardly.

In order to preventthe drawer from rattling either in its closed or openposition, spring means are employed for tensioning each track 23 withinits ball-race I6. Aeonvenien-t arrangement for accomplishingthis'anti-rattleeffect is the use of a blade-spring 21 having-reducedend-lugs 27a, each of whichisinserted; into and passed through a.slotextending inwardly" from'the free edge of either the top orthebottom wall I8 of ballrace I6. The inner end of each slot 28 ispreferablyenlarged,- as'best shown in Fig; 2; to properly receive andretain the end-lug 21a of spring 21-. Each spring 21 is made of anysuitable resilient material and it is of sufficient length to pressagainst andtensionits track when saidtrack 20 is inserted within itsball-race I6.

It is not necessary to provide a ball-retainer I6 with more than onetensioning spring 2 1, but I can optionally provide the top'wall andalso the bottom wall I8- of each ball-retainer I6-witha spring 21.

Each ball-retainer I6 is assembled with its tensioning spring or-springs21, as a sub-unit, be-

fore assembling the-ball-retainer I6 with the otherspring; 21' isproduced and maintained'because the distance between each pair of slotsorrecesses-28 is less than the normal fiat length of spring-2T. Theeffect of the arching of each spring 21" is to force the-slots 28-away'from eachother, thus subjecting each ball-retainer I6 tolongitudinal tension between-its pair or pairs of slots 28*. Thedrawingsare substantially to scale and refer once is made thereto forfurther disclosure. Theball-retainers I6 are-made of thin metaL'ascold'- rolled steel which has a'thiekness of about 01050 inch. Inaddition to the tension effect, eaclr' arched spring 21' exerts abending or arching effect upon the respective ball-retainingwall18. Asshown in-Fig; 3,Iuse two'balls 22in each ball-' retainingwall It, sothateach ball-retainer I'It has four balls 225- As also shown in-F iga 3,the two ball-receiving pockets 23 are closeto the respective slots2-8=.- Hence, the bending or arching" effectuponthetopwall Ifi shown inFig.3, is to: force-the t-jwo topvballs n against'theitracle-fia If Iuse an arched spring 21 with a bottom ballretaining wall I8, such bottomball-retaining wall I8 is arched upwardly, thus. also forcing its twoballs 22 against the track 20;

When the ball-retainers are assembled with the springs 21, and the otherparts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1, the balls 22 fit accurately inthe ball-races I5, while said balls 22 are thus pressed againsttheball-tracks 2I. Hence the -drawer Il'cannotmove up or down relativeto the frame II, either in open or closed position of the drawer.

If desired, there-may be a resilient pressure of the ball-races- I5 uponthe balls 22, when the device is assembled.

The manner of mounting a slidable drawer I0 within a frame or cabinet'upon the slide support II illustrated in Figs. l-4.will depend, ofcourse. upon the particular construction and interrelationship of thedrawer I0 and frame or cabinet. Where the drawer has verti'cal sidewalls depending below a bottom wall and the frame hashorizontallongitudinal supports I I situated below said bottom wall of thedrawer,channel members I2 may be secured to the inner sides of said'verticalwalls I6 and tracks'ZWmay be secured to said longitudinal frame supportsI I', as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. In this case each track 2'0 will bestationary and each'channel member- I2 and each ball-retainer I6 will beslidable on its track 28 as the drawer is opened and closed. The abovearrangement may be reversedwhere the vertical side walls of the drawerarespaced inwardly from the side walls ofthe frame to provide atransverse space therebetween and where the-vertical side walls of thedrawer donot depend below, button minate at, thebottom wall of saiddrawer. Here each slide support II may be located at a proper levelwithin thespace between the side wall of the frame and the side wall ofthe drawer, with each channel member I2 secured to the side wall of thefixed frame andeach track 20 secured to the bottom wall of the drawer.In the latter case each channel member I2 will be stationary and eachball-retainer- I6, together with its track 2II will be slidable-whenthedrawer is opened and closed.

Returning now to the initially described construction of the drawer andframe, a modification of the slide support is illustrated in Fig. 5.Here:

4 the drawer has vertica-l side walls 30,. depending below the bottomwall of the. drawer and isbelow the support :11 of the frame. Thedetailsofi construction of the slide-support'with respect to channelmember "I2 and ball-retainer. I6 are; the:

same as for the first embodiment and the severalparts thereofhavebeencorrespondingly numbered in Fig.=5i The slide support has aslidablo: track 40 mounted within ball-retainer I6 and provided onitsupper and lower surfaces ad j acentone of its longitudinal edges withlongitudinal grooves; or recesses] 4 I: which serve as ball-:trackss-Track All cis. slidably' assembled: relativeto, channel-v member I2 bymeans of balls 22 disposed between each pair ofa-lignedball-races IEandball-tracks II in said channel member and said track re.- spectively,each. of the ba1ls.22, being disposed, rotatably within holes inhorizontal walls I8. of. ball-retainer I6', as in the first. embodiment.In'. the second embodiment, however, track 40 has a mounting flange 40adisposed, substantially at right angles to the body of said track '40.The arrangement here described" allows the mounting of track 40" on thevertical side wall 30'- of the drawer as bymeans of screws 42 andthemount ingof channel member I2 onhorizontalfl'x'eef;

frame support 3| In this case channel member I? will be. stationary andball-retainer It, together with its track 40, will be slidable as thedrawer is opened and closed. As will be readily seen from the foregoingdescription and by comparing Fig. 5 with Fig. 4, the mounting of theslide support is reversed in the embodiment of Fig. 5, the reversedmounting being effected substantially 'by the presence of theright-angled mountin flange 40a of track 40 in the latter embodiment.The spring or springs 21 are used in the second embodiment.

It is thus apparent that the invention provides a slide support which byslight modification may be readily adopted for a variety of types ofslidable drawer and frame constructions.

Since omissions and additional modifications may be made in the slidesupport of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the foregoing description andshown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted merely as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

The component parts of the device may be made from any suitable metal ofother material. Channel member I2, ball-race I8 and track 20 or 40 arepreferably each of integral construction and can be fabricated by simplestamping, rolling and bending operations.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide support of the character described comprising an elongatedchannel member having an open side, a side wall and upper and lowerhorizontal walls integral therewith, said upper and lower walls beingprovided with opposed longitudinal grooves, a carriage slidably mountedwithln said channel member, said carriage having an open side, a sidewall disposed adjacent said side wall of said channel member, andflexible horizontal walls, a track insertable between said horizontalwalls of said carriage and slidable relative to said carriage and saidchannel member, said track presenting longitudinal grooves on the upperand lower surfaces thereof, said first-mentioned longitudinal groovesand said second-mentioned longitudinal grooves being arranged inrespective pairs, said horizontal walls of said carriage havingperforations adjacent their ends, balls rotatably disposed betweenrespective pairs of said first-mentioned and secondmentioned grooves,said balls being rotatably and partially disposed within saidperforations, one of said horizontal walls of said carriage having apair of slots extending inwardly from the free edge thereof, said slotsbeing disposed between and adjacent said perforations in said horizontalwall of said carriage, each of said slots having an enlarged base, atensioning strip-spring interposed between said wall and said track,said stripspring having end lugs, said end-lugs of said strip-springbeing respectively inserted within said slots, said strip-spring beingarched against said track, said strip-spring exerting force on therespective segmental portions of said horizontal wall of said carriagebetween said respective slots and perforations to press said respectivesegmental portions of said horizontal wall against said balls, saidhorizontal wall being arched to ward the nearer of the horizontal wallsof the channel member, said pressure of said respective segmentalportions of said horizontal wall of said carriage against said ballspushing said balls against said track, said track having an integralmounting portion extending outwardly from said open-side of said channelmember for securement to a supporting surface, the side wall of saidchannel member'presenting abutting stops adja'cent the ends thereof tolimit the forward and rearwardmovement of said carriage.

2. A slide supportof the character described comprising an elongatedchannel member provided with opposed longitudinal ball-race grooves, acarriage slidably mounted within said channel member, a track insertablewithin said carriage and slidable relative to said carriage and saidchannel member, said track having longitudinal ball track grooves on theupper and lower surfaces thereof, and which are aligned with saidball-race grooves, said carriage having longitudinal portions betweenwhich said track is located, said carriage portions havingball-receiving perforations therethrough, balls rotatably disposedbetween respective pairs of said ballrace grooves and ball-trackgrooves, said balls being rotatably disposed within the perforations ofsaid carriage and abutting said ball-race grooves and said ball-trackgrooves, one of said longitudinal portions of said carriage having apair of slots extending inwardly from the free edge thereof, said slotsbeing disposed between said perforations in said longitudinal portion ofsaid carriage, each of said slots having an enlarged base, a tensioningstrip-spring interposed between said longitudinal portions and saidtrack, said strip-spring having end-lugs, said end-lugs of saidstripspring being respectively inserted within said slots, saidstrip-spring being arched against said track, said strip-springextending force on the respective sub-portions of said horizontalportion between said respective slots and perforations, saidstrip-spring pressing said sub-portions against said balls, saidlongitudinal portion of said carriage being arched away from said track,said pressing of said sub-portions against said balls pushing said ballsagainst said track.

3. In a device as described, a track member having a groove therein, aflexible ball-retaining wall member having perforations therein, meansfo holding said ball-retaining wall in spaced parallel relationship tosaid track, balls rotatably disposed within said perforations of saidballretaining member and resting within said groove of said trackmember, means for limiting the movement of said balls away from saidgroove, said ball-retaining member having a pair of slots extendinginwardly from the free edge thereof and disposed between saidperforations in same, a tensioning strip-spring interposed between saidball-retaining member and said track, said stripspring having end-lugs,said end-lugs being respectively inserted within said slots, said slotsbeing adapted to retain said end-lugs therein, said strip-spring beingarched against said track, said strip-spring exerting force on therespective segmental portions of said ball-retaining member between saidrespective slots and perforations, and pressing said segmental portionsagainst said balls to hold same against said track.

4. A slide support comprising an elongated channel member provided withopposed longitudinal ball-race grooves, a carriage slidably mountedwithin said channel member, a track member insertable within saidcarriage and slidable relative to said carriage and said channel member,said track member having longitudinal ball track grooves on the upperand lower surfaces thereof, and which are aligned with said ball-racegrooves, said carriage having longitudi- 7, nut-portions between whichsaid track member islecdted; said carriage-portion ,ham'ng ballrece'ioingmerjorations therethrough, balls rotatabl'u disposed betweenrespective: pdirsio! said ballrace grooves and' bdll tmclc' grooves;said; balls beiitg rotatably disposed within the perforations of saidcarriage and mbuttirng said ball mcegrooves and said balltrackigroo'ues, spring mea'n's onicm'e of said carriage portions locatedbetween the -perforations thereo'flandmeans for anchor 10 2,003,549

ing a portionoj said-sprihgmeans to sin'd-car-' Huge portiom. another"portion of said means resiliently-bearing against one of'sdid flwmbfs;

NATHAN A GUSSACKr us" REFEREN3ES CITED The-following references are ofrecord inflie file of'this patent'or the original patefi't:

v UNITED STATESPA'IENTS Number

